Data compression ratio is defined as a ratio of uncompressed size to compressed size. Thus if a 4 kilo byte (kB) file is compressed to 400 bytes, the compression ratio is 10 (or ten to one). With the proliferation of the Internet, mobile computing devices, cloud computing, social networks, and so on, large amounts of data are routinely transferred between computing devices via various networks. For example, large amounts of data are routinely exchanged between mobile phones and hosts of service providers via wireless networks. In cloud computing systems, large amounts of data are transferred between datacenters and between hosts within datacenters. In on-premises computing systems of an enterprise, large amounts of data are transferred between computers via various networks.
Further, within a computer, large amounts of data can be transferred between two devices of the computer. For example, large amounts of data can be transferred between a storage device (e.g., a disk drive) and physical memory of the computer, between a processor and physical memory of the computer, between physical memory and a graphics processor of the computer, and so on.
Compressing data can improve bandwidth utilization of the communication media (e.g., networks, buses, and so on) through which the data are transported. Compressed data can be transported faster than uncompressed data. When compression is used, compressed data is decompressed before processing the data.
Data compression is widely used. For example, various content providers that provide content such as streaming videos use data compression. Various applications (called apps) that provide storage for photos, documents, and so on use data compression. Data stored may be telemetry or other databases. Backup applications that backup large amounts of data use data compression.
The background description provided here is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.